1 killed, dozens injured in tour bus crash

REDDING (AP) — A tour bus that had already crashed into a restaurant earlier in the day overturned Sunday in Northern California, killing one person and injuring dozens more, five of them seriously, authorities said.

The bus traveling from Los Angeles to Pasco, Washington, crashed just off Interstate 5 at about 8:30 a.m. about 100 miles south of the Oregon border, California Highway Patrol Officer Jeff Borgen told the Redding Record-Searchlight.

Earlier in the same trip and about 50 miles to the south, the bus had struck a Denny’s restaurant in Red Bluff, Borgen said. No one was injured in that crash.

A 33-year-old man was killed, Borgen said. His name has not been released because relatives had not been notified.

All but one of the other 32 people aboard were taken to hospitals. Most had minor injuries and were treated and released.

Two patients were in critical condition and three more were in serious condition at Mercy Medical Center in Redding, where most of the patients were taken, hospital spokeswoman Heather Nichols said.

“We drill for this kind of thing,” she told the Record-Searchlight.

Investigators said evidence at both crash sites show that driver fatigue may have been a factor. They did not say whether drugs or alcohol may have been involved.

No information was released on the driver, nor was it clear why the bus continued on its trip after the initial crash.

The bus operator, Yellow Arrow LLC, is based in Othello, Washington. It has a current license and before Sunday had no reported accidents in the past two years, according to federal records.